Track guided model boat



Nov. 11, 1969 LANGFQRD ET AL 3,477,391

TRACK GUIDED MODEL BOAT Filed Aug. 5, 19s? I 5/ q 47 49 2 /J INVENTOR. F16 5 ROBERT L Haas/e7- mop/v06 United States Patent 3,477,391 TRACK GUIDED MODEL BOAT Thomas S. Langford, 675 N. Rose, Escondido, Calif.

92025, and Robert L. Hubert, 2510 Anchovie Apartments, San Pedro, Calif. 90731 Filed Aug. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 658,087 Int. Cl. A63g 3/00, 1/10; A63h 23/04 US. Cl. 104-73 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A model boat comprising a hull and an electric motor mounted therein for driving a propeller disposed exteriorly of said hull. A boom is supported at its lower extremity from the aft portion of said hull and angles upwardly and forwardly to support a guide for engagement with, and tracking along, an electrically conductive track disposed above and parallel to the surface of the water on which the hull is to float. An electrical brush is supported at the upper extremity of the boom for engagement with the track and an electric lead connects such brush with the motor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The present invention relates generally to model boats and more specifically to model boats to be guided by a track.

Description of prior art Applicant is not aware of any prior model boats which are guided by an overhead track.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a model boat having an upwardly projecting boom that supports a guide means on its upper extremity, such guide means being for engagement with, and tracking along, an electrically conductive track disposed above the water over which the boat is propelled. The boat includes an electric motor for driving a propeller and an electrical lead is in communication with the track and motor for communicating electrical power from the track to the motor.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from consideration of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a track supported over the surface of a body of water over which the boat, embodying the present invention, is propelled;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the boat shown in FIG. 1, in enlarged scale.

FIG. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view, taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial vertical sectional view, taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a partial horizontal sectional view, taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The boat B embodying the present invention is intended to be operated in conjunction with an electrically conductive track T disposed above and extending parallel to the surface of the water W over which the boat B is to be operated. The track T shown in FIG. 1 is elliptically shaped to guide the boat B through a generally elliptical path but may be of any shape desired.

The boat B includes a conventional hull 13 which may ice be made of wood, plastic, or any othersuitable material. An electric motor 15 is mounted in the hull 13. The motor 15 includes a forwardly projecting drive shaft 17 which mounts a frusto-conical drive gear 19 on its forward extremity. A similar frusto-conical driven gear 21 is engaged by the drive gear 19 and is carried on the forward extremity of a driven shaft 23. The driven shaft 23 is carried in an elongated hollow tube 25 which angles downwardly and rearwardly through the bottom of the hull 13 and is supported at its rear extremity from the bottom of the hull 13 by a fitting 29 which is attached to the hull 13. The driven shaft 23 projects from the aft end of the sleeve 25 and mounts a propeller 31 on its rearward extrernity.

An electrically conductive, forwardly and upwardly angling boom 35 is supported at its lower extremity from the aft portion of the hull 13. The lower portion of the boom 35 is curved upwardly and rearwardly and has a yoke 39 aiiixed thereunder. The yoke 39 is carried from a mounting bracket 41 by a pivot pin 43. The mounting bracket 41 is aifixed to a mounting clip 47 and such clip is fastened to the electric motor 15 by a screw 49. The extremity 50 of the upwardly curved portion of the boom 35 is connected with a tab 51 on the rear extremity of the mounting clip 47 by a tension spring 55 to bias the boom 35 about the pivot pin 43.

The upper portion of the boom 35 curves forwardly into a generally horizontal plane and a guide, generally designated 61, is pivotably attached thereto. The guide 61 is of generally T-shaped cross-section (FIG. 4) and the cross portion of the T includes a downwardly projecting pin 59 which is journaled into a housing 62 affixed to the boom 35. The track T comprises two spaced apart heavy gauge wires 63 and 65, and the upwardly projecting portion 66 of the guide 61 is received slidably therebet-ween. The wires 63 and 65 are carried from support posts 67 projecting upwardly out of the water W and are affixed to such posts 67 by hangers 71. The posts 67 include horizontal portions 72 and the ends of such portions are in the form of horizontal studs 73. The hangers 71 include horizontal bores for receiving the studs 73, and nuts 74 screw thereonto to secure the hangers 71 in place. The hangers 71 include downwardly opening central passages 75 for passage of the portion 66 of guide 61. Referring to FIG. 2, elongated mounting plates 77 are welded to the wires 63 and 65 and include longitudinal slots 78. The plates 77 project up into vertical slots in the hangers 71 and are fastened thereto by screws 81. Thus, the wires 63 and 65 can be moved relative to the support posts 67 and can be shifted to take up slack to tighten the wires.

A pair of resilient brushes 83 and 85 are secured to the upwardly facing surface of the T-shaped guide 61 by screws 87 and such brushes 83 and 85 are curved upwardly at their rearward extremity to make contact with the respective wires 63 and 65. An electrical lead 91 is afiixed on its upper end to the screw 87, affixing the brush 83, and extends downwardly along the boom 35 and is secured thereto by clips 93. The lead 91 is connected on its lower extremity with the positive terminal of the motor 15. The terminal screw 87, affixing the brush 85, connects the upper end of a lead 95 which is secured on its lower end to the upper portion of the boom 35. The negative terminal of the motor 15 is connected with the motor clip 47 byvan electric lead 97 for providing a ground for the motor 15 through the boom 35, lead 95 and track wire 65.

A skeg 101 is affixed to the central underside of the boat hull 13 for controlling sideways skid of the boat in the water. A rudder 103 is attached to the rear end of the boat and is journaled in a vertical sleeve 105 and is tight fit therein to resist pivotal movement, thereby allowing for the rudder 103 to be set at the desired angle and assuring continuance of such setting. For operation with the track T shown, the rudder 103 is preferably set parallel to the longitudinal direction of the boat.

pair of planer plates 109 and 111 are hingedly afi' ixed to the stern of the boat and are sufficiently tight fit on their hinge pins (not shown) to enable such planer plates to be set at the desired angle and to be frictionally held there.

In operation, a positive current is supplied to the Wire 63 through an electrical lead 115 while the wire 65 is grounded through a lead 117. When power is supplied to the electric motor 15, the propeller 31 will be turned to provide forward impulse to the boat hull 13. As the boat is driven forwardly in the water W, the guide 61 will be driven forwardly between the spaced apart wires 63 and 65 and will travel therealong and when travelling around the corner will cause the boat B to turn with its bow directed in the direction of the track T. It is of special importance that the guide 61 contacts the track T directly above the bow of the boat B, because with such an arrangement the boat B is caused to turn a corner in a natural manner resembling the way in which an ordinary power boat would turn a corner. The boat B is free to swing out from under the track T for a limited distance and since the boom 35 is biased upwardly the guide 61 will maintained in engagement with the track T.

For particular speeds and differently weighted boats B, it is desirable to adjust the planer plates 109 and 111 to different angles to cause the boat B to plane at coresponding different speeds. The planer plates 109 and 111 can be adjusted to the desired angle by grasping them and pivoting them on their respective hinges and they will be maintained at the set angle by the frictional resistance of the respective hinges.

Various modifications and changes may be made with regard to the foregoing detailed description without departing from the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. A model boat to be used in conjunction with an electrically conductive, curved track having a positive and a negative lead and supported above the surface of the water on which the boat is to float, said boat comprising:

a hull;

an' electric motor mounted in said hull and having a drive shaft projecting through the wall of said hull;

a propeller mounted on said shaft for propelling said hull through said water;

an upwardly and forwardly projecting rigid boom supported at its lower extremity from said hull and fixed against lateral pivoting;

guide means supported at the upper extremity of said boom for engaging and tracking along said track where-by said guide means will track around the curves in said track ahead of said lower extremity to apply a turning torque to said hull and cause said hull to turn around said curves;

first and second electrical brushes for contacting said respective positive and negative leads and sliding therealong; and

a pair of electrical leads connecting said respective brushes with the respective positive and negative terminals of said motor.

2. A model boat as set forth in claim 1 wherein said boom is supported at its lower extremity from the aft end of said h-ull.

3. A model boat as set forth in claim 1 wherein said boom is pivotal, at its lower extremity, about a horizontal axis, and that includes;

biasing means for biasing the upper extremity of said boom upwardly to maintain said guide means pressed into engagement with said track.

4. A model boat as set forth in claim 1 that includes:

a planing plate angling downwardly and rearwardly from the stern of said hull.

5. A model boat as set forth in claim 4 wherein said planing plate is pivotally connected at its front edge to said hull for rotation with respect to a horizontal axis, said boat further including:

adjustment means for selectively resisting rotation of said planing plate with respect to said horizontal axis.

6. A model boat as set forth in claim 1 that includes fixed rudder means for guiding the direction of said boat through the water.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,591,566 7/1926 Schmidt 104-73 1,885,643 11/1932 Thoerig 10473 2,243,945 6/1941 Drummey 19150 2,816,521 12/ 1957 Alexander 1l466.5 3,190,646 6/1965 FOfSman 104173 ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner RICHARD A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 46-93 

